¡Adelante!

Iberian-Latin American theatre festival at the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg

The festival ¡Adelante! was devoted to Iberian-Latin American contemporary theatre, i.e. from theatre productions from Spain and the nations of Latin America. The Theater Heidelberg has organised this festival in hopes of encouraging dialogue on thematic and aesthetic issues, and initiating long-term partnerships between Latin America and Europe. In addition to twelve selected guest performances and an accompanying programme with numerous participative formats, the festival also featured a German-Chilean coproduction. The artists from the Theater Heidelberg collaborated with the Chilean theatre group Colectivo Zoológico on a production which illuminated the mechanisms of segregation and exclusion as a global phenomenon of NIMBY (Not in My Backyard). This attitude is just as prevalent in Chile as it is in Germany: “Social housing projects, yes, but not in my backyard”, or “wind power, yes, but not in my backyard”. Among the invited productions was Pablo Manzi’s world premiere “Donde viven los Barbaros” (Where the Barbarians Live), whose fast-paced dialogues revealed the traces of xenophobia in society. Mexican director David Gaitán’s adaptation of “Antigone”, packaged in a reality TV format, addressed the disparity between official political discourse and the self-interests of the political elite. The Chilean group La Re-Sentida presented its latest production which created quite a stir for transporting the historical figure of President Salvador Allende and his promise of a better and more socially equitable future to the present day. The Cuban director Sandra Ramy presented a production which combined theatre, dance, video art and poetry, and closely scrutinised the media-based and economic dynamics of the fashion industry. And finally, the Colombian theatre group Mapa Tetro presented the world premiere of the final part of its triptych “Los Incontados” (The Uncounted) in Heidelberg, highlighting the intimate relationship between celebration and violence in Colombian society.